Memphis Police Officer Kevin Day, center, addressed the city pension board Thursday. With him are his wife Tina Day and Officer Kenneth Walcott, the Memphis Police Association representative for the Mount Moriah station.

Memphis Police Officer Kevin Day suffered life-changing injuries on Sept. 4, 2012 when he was assigned to direct morning traffic at Oak Forest Elementary. He was standing in the emergency lane on Germantown Road when a driver illegally entered the lane to pass stopped vehicles and hit him.

Day said the collision violently twisted his right foot, snapped the bones and nearly tore it off. On Thursday, the city pension board reviewed medical records that say Day can no longer do the required task of running and catching fleeing suspects. The board unanimously granted him a disability pension.

"I mean, I didn't want to leave the department, but I'm happy that I'm able to at least get what I got," Day said after the pension hearing at city hall. "I did not want to retire but didn't have a choice. Physically I'm incapable of going back. I have to wear a brace on my leg for the rest of my life and can't run," he said, pulling up his pant leg to reveal the black brace that encases his right ankle.

Day had worked on desk duty with the police department in the months since the collision. He said he's not sure what he'll do next. He's 40.

The pension ordinance does not allow workers in Day's situation to permanently take a job other than the one for which they were hired, said Quintin Robinson, the city's director of human resources. "That's one area quite frankly of the pension ordinance that needs to be revisited," Robinson said. For instance, if the rules allowed it, a disabled police officer might be able to take a job at the training academy. "That might be a win-win for the employee and the city."

Under current rules, an officer like Day could reapply for a different job at the city, but would lose his disability pension, Robinson said.

The case also illustrates the risk that police officers face when they're moving on foot in and around roadways. Mayor A C Wharton chaired Thursday's pension board meeting and said he supports the idea of tightening city ordinances to protect workers in the street.

"I just wish people would be more careful," said the officer's wife, Tina Day.

Day's estimated pension is $2,577 per month, according to a document distributed at the board meeting.